Islamic Law of Obligations
This work, entitled Islamic Law of Obligations, is a comprehensive study that
systematically examines the rules governing contractual obligations between
parties. Its fundamental approach is to assess obligational relationships not merely
within the framework of the parties’ economic interests, but also in accordance
with the principles of justice, mutual consent, good faith, and equity. In this
context, the primary objective of Islamic law of obligations is to prevent unjust
enrichment and protect the parties from harm and unfair disadvantage in their
legal relationships.
The study is systematically structured into three main sections: contract theory,
contracts, and partnerships. The contract theory section examines the concept
of obligation, the elements, sources, and performance of obligations, the nature of
contracts, conditions that may be stipulated in contracts, various types of contractual
options (khiyār), classifications of property, and the termination of contracts.
Particular emphasis is placed on demonstrating the decisive role of principles
concerning factors that impair consent in contractual obligations. In this context,
matters such as coercion (ikrāh), mistake (ghalaṭ), fraud (tadlīs), deception (taghrīr),
and lesion (ghabn), which may affect the validity or binding force of a contract
or the consent of the contracting parties, are explained in detail.
In the section on contracts, the principal types of contracts—including sale, the
essential elements and conditions of the sale contract, its legal effects, and various
forms of sale such as murābaḥah, waḍīʿah, tawliyah, barter, auction sales, sales with
earnest money, and bayʿ al-wafāʾ, as well as interest (ribā), pre-emption (shufʿah),
currency exchange (ṣarf), salam, istiṣnāʿ, loan (qarḍ), lease (ijārah), gratuitous loan
(ʿāriyah), gift (hibah), deposit (wadīʿah), agency (wakālah), guarantee (kafālah), assignment
of debt (ḥawālah), pledge (rahn), and settlement (ṣulḥ) are analyzed in
terms of both their theoretical structures and their practical implications.
In the final section, the concept of partnership (sharikah), which gives rise to
reciprocal obligations and is extensively examined in classical works of Islamic
jurisprudence, is addressed. Within this framework, the nature of partnership
and its various forms, including sharikat al-ʿinān, sharikat al-mufāwaḍah, sharikat
al-amwāl, sharikat al-wujūh, sharikat al-abdān, as well as muḍārabah, muzāra
ʿah, and musāqāt, are examined in detail.
Rather than merely presenting historical doctrine, the work also discusses
how Islamic law of obligations may be interpreted and applied to contemporary
commercial life and modern economic relations, addressing such issues as the
substantial appreciation or depreciation of loaned money, inflation differentials,
bank interest, the discounting of checks and promissory notes, insurance, bank
promotional payments, private pension schemes, car rental, product leasing, financial
leasing, key money, and bank letters of guarantee.
V I I I
The views of the various schools of Islamic law are presented comparatively in
light of the textual evidence and rational arguments upon which they are based,
thereby enabling readers to engage in critical evaluation. In this respect, the work
constitutes an academic reference source for researchers, theologians, graduate
and undergraduate students seeking to understand the conceptual coherence and
fundamental principles of Islamic law of obligations, as well as its potential application
to contemporary jurisprudential issues, while also providing a foundation
for further research.
Keywords: Islamic Law; Islamic Law of Obligations; Contract; Contract Theory;
Company.